Thank you Argo Corn Starch for sponsoring this post. Celebrate sweet moments together with Argo!

Hey Y’all. I’m back today with a new baking experiment of sorts. I’ve been thinking about that Great Brownie Challenge, and I’m finally ready to share these Pretzel Caramel Brownies. This is not to say that there weren’t lots of amazing brownie contenders in that challenge, because there were so many GREAT recipes. When I think about what I like in a brownie, for me, it's a great chocolate flavor, a crinkly crust, but above all else, I love a thick and chewy brownie.

Disclaimer:

This is a sponsored post (yay!) with a product (Argo Corn Starch) that I’ve been using as long as I’ve been baking (double yay!). If you like your brownies chewy and thick, then this is the recipe (and the subsequent recipe testing) is for you. Create the BEST with Argo.

The Challenge:

Can I bake the perfectly thick, chocolatey and chewy brownie? Of course I can. The real question is “how?” This my friends is where my secret ingredient, Argo Corn Starch, comes in.

Y’all probably know corn starch from making any type of fruit flavored pie (like this apple one) or fruit flavored topping (like this blueberry one) but did you know that you can add it into baked goods like breads, cookies and brownies? Plus, Argo Corn Starch is gluten free . This is so important for our chewy brownies, because we get the benefit of adding an extra egg or two to our batter without all of the extra liquid. But the best part: Argo Corn Starch is reliable for thickening – in fact it has twice the thickening power of flour.

In the spirit of science and because the kind folks at Argo sent me a supply of corn starch, I’m using what I learned in the Great Brownie Challenge to test a new recipe!

Acknowledgements:

To my husband who will always support any and every initiative that involves me making brownies, you’re the real MVP.

To my coworkers who stepped up to provide “quality control” and their general opinions, y’all are so much fun.

To Zeynep who researched if a supply of corn starch counts as income for tax purposes– this is why we are friends.

To Argo for sponsoring this post and this experiment; thank you.

The ‘Rules’

What lawyer doesn’t love some rules at the start?

The recipe can’t be overly complicated. The fewer bowls the better.
No obscure ingredients. Immediately, I knew this rule would be hard to follow.

Recap from the Great Brownie Challenge

After making 12 brownie recipes in a weekend, I noticed several patterns in the method for baking brownies.

In camp a) the minimal bowls strategy (Holly, Alice, Liz) and b) the ones with lots of eggs (Bravetart, Mike’s, Sarah Keiffer). For this experiment I am going with camp A. Less bowls, less eggs.

Butter or oil? I’m doing both. Butter for flavor and oil for moisture.

Dry ingredients: All purpose flour, dutch process cocoa, salt, corn starch, baking soda/powder.

Flavorings: Unlike the Great Brownie Challenge where there was a rule prohibiting mix-ins (or razzle dazzle), this time there is no such rule. I can add anything my heart desires so long as it’s not obscure. See what I did there– made a rule and then bent it to my baking will. {evil laugh!} After contemplating what felt like every single potential flavor combo, I settled on pretzel caramel brownies and it was the right call.

The Pretzel Caramel Brownie Recipe Drafting

So, under normal circumstances, when I test a recipe for the first time, it’s complete chaos. I don’t have notes, I’m not following anything. Instead, that first bake is about feeling out the process and the ingredients, going with the flow and taking copious notes. If the recipe works, great– the second bake will just be to confirm that I wrote it all down right. If the recipe doesn’t work, then I can refer to my notes and make adjustments. This is the process of baking that I love.

For the first attempt, I focused on the brownie– and left the caramel and pretzels out. In that recipe I only used 1 tablespoon of corn starch and a 50/50 combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar. Were these brownies good? Yes, the whole pan disappeared. However the moisture from the brown sugar created a delightfully fudgy brownie, which probably wouldn’t be able to handle the caramel and the pretzels.

For the second attempt, I again focused on getting the brownie right. I eliminated the brown sugar, added an egg and increased the corn starch to two tablespoons. The second batch was perfect! Chewy on the edges, just the right amount of bite. The consistency is right on the edge of chewy and fudgy.

Final version. I kept the recipe exactly the same– and focused on the add-ins. I only used about 4 tablespoons of caramel sauce– any more would weigh down the caramel pretzel brownies too much. I also made the decision to crush the pretzels, which turned out to be the right call, because it made slicing the cooled brownies a breeze.

The Method:

In the Great Brownie Challenge, I fell in love with Alice Medrich’s method for brownie making. Essentially set a bowl over boiling water and combine the butter, sugar and cocoa powder until a fudge appears. Since my recipe calls for a fair amount of oil, this wouldn’t work in the exact same way. So I settled on melting the butter, adding the sugar, cocoa powder, and oil - stirring over low heat for a couple of minutes until the sugar dissolves. By heating the chocolate and sugar, the crust turns out shiny the way I like it. Once you’ve removed the pan from heat, it’s straightforward: stir in the eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt, corn starch, and flour.

Pro Tip #1

Once you add the flour into the batter, stir the batter as little as possible. We want chewy brownies, not tough brownies.

Pro Tip #2

Don’t over bake the Pretzel Caramel Brownies! Brownies will continue to cook in the pan while they cool, so if your toothpick comes out clean, they are overdone. The toothpick should have just enough firm brownie batter on it.

Pro Tip #3

Always cut brownies with a plastic knife. Seriously. The cuts will be cleaner and you won't lose bits of brownie while you’re slicing.

That’s it for this brownie recipe challenge. Let me know if you make them by tagging me on Instagram @southernshellebakes. I love to see y’all’s bakes.

Until next time,

Richelle

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